Visiting Hope, AR - the birthplace of Bill Clinton



 

On our way to Hot Springs we stopped in to visit the site where Bill Clinton was born and first lived.  This little block on the main drag in Hope was so small it did not even have a parking lot. We had to park the “boat” on Division Street in front of the site. That’s not always easy to do. 


Went in for the tour. Happened to be the third day since they reopened for yours. Glad we were able to tour.  Learned more about him then I ever knew. Actual name - William Jefferson Blythe III. Father died in a car accident before he was born.  Mom had him at 23 and left him with her parents (in the house on the tour) to go to Shreveport to finish her nursing degree.  She came back married Roger Clinton (the local Buick Dealer), had another son (Roger) and then moved the family to Hot Springs when Bill was in middle school. Bill, unbeknownst to his mother, went to the courthouse in Hot Springs when he was 16 and requested to change his last name to Clinton, so he would have the same name as everyone else in the family. House was small and very modest. 










This is the tenth year anniversary of the opening of this site. Many of the planned events have been curtailed due to Covid. 

Clinton turns 75 in August.  Fun fact Trump turns 75 in June and Bush turns 75 in July. 1946 was a big year for presidents’ births. 

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